Firewalls are designed to block connections to the Internet. Your Netgear DG834G router has a basic firewall that helps to protect your home network. Sometimes you want these blocked ports or connections to be opened. This process of opening a port is frequently called a port forward because you are forwarding a port from the Internet directly to a specific device in your local home network.
In this guide we will walk you through each of the following steps:
- How to setup a static IP address on the exact device you want to forward these ports to.
- How to login to your Netgear DG834G router.
- How to find the port forwarding section.
- How to create a port forward.
We think that forwarding a port should be easy. That's why we created Network Utilities. Our software does everything that you need to forward a port.
When you use Network Utilities you get your port forwarded right now!
Step 1
It is important to setup a static ip address in the device that you are forwarding a port to. This ensures that your ports will remain open even after your device reboots.
- Recommended - Our free Static IP Setter will set up a static IP address for you.
- Another way to get a permanent IP address is to set up a DHCP reservation.
- Or, manually create a static ip address with our Static IP Guides.
This step is important because you want a permanent IP address in your device. If you do not set up a permanent IP address in your device, then when you device reboots it may get a new IP address.
Use a VPN Instead
Have you considered using a VPN instead of forwarding a port? For most users, a VPN is a much simpler and more secure choice than forwarding a port.
We use and recommend NordVPN because not only is it the fastest VPN, it includes a new feature called Meshnet that makes forwarding a port no longer necessary for most applications. With NordVPN Meshnet, you can connect to your devices from anywhere in the world, completely secure, over a highly encrypted VPN tunnel.
Every time you click on one of our affiliate links, such as NordVPN, we get a little kickback for introducing you to the service. Think of us as your VPN wingman.
Step 2
It is now time to login to the Netgear DG834G router. In order to make changes you need to access it's web interface. To do that you need to open up a web browser. It doesn't matter what web browser you decide to use, simply pick your favorite. Here are some common choices:
- Internet Explorer
- Firefox
- Chrome
- Safari
Open up your web browser and find the address bar. It looks like this:
Above is an example of what a web browser address bar looks like. Find the address bar in your router and type in your router's IP address.
The default Netgear DG834G IP Address is: 192.168.0.1
After entering the IP address of your router you can simply press Enter. If all goes well you should see the following screen:
You are on the right page if you see a box asking for your username and password.
- The Default Netgear DG834G Router Username is: admin
- The Default Netgear DG834G Router Password is: password
Enter your username and password, and then click the OK button to log in to your Netgear DG834G router.
Trouble Logging In...
This is where a lot of us get stuck. Here are a few troubleshooting ideas to help you out:
- First, we recommend trying other Netgear usernames and passwords. It is possible you have a slightly different firmware version with a different username and password. Check out our list of these on our Default Netgear Router Passwords page.
- If you still cannot login then it is probably because you changed the username and/or password in the past and can't remember what you changed it to. Have you tried to guess what you changed it to? We have a Find Password App that automates the process for you. This app makes the process of guessing hundreds or even thousands of passwords easier. (To prevent illegal activity, this app will not work over the Internet. It only works on your home network.) Learn more on this Router Password Cracker page.
- Finally, if nothing else works, it might be time to consider a reset. We strongly recommend exhausting all other troubleshooting methods before you decide to do this. A reset like this erases all personal settings. If you think you need to reset this router, check out our How to Reset a Router page.
Step 3
Finding the port forward section of this router is extremely easy. We have actually included it with our 4th step. When logging into the Netgear DG834G router you should see the following image:
Step 4
Here are the ports to forward for Xbox Live:
- TCP Ports: 3074
- UDP Ports: 3074
If you are looking for the ports for a different application you can find it by either:
- Browsing our List of Games
- Check out our our List of Games by Genre
- See our List of all Applications
Don't forget to sign up for NordVPN's promo deal before it's gone.
You might notice that most of our site doesn't have ads on it. This is because we use partnerships with companies like NordVPN to keep the site running. Thank you for supporting us by using our referral links.
Click the Services link near the left of the page.
Click the Add Custom Service button near the center of the page.
You need to name this entry in the Name box. The name does not make any difference in the forward; it's just there so that you can remember later why you setup this forward.
The protocol that you want to forward is selected from the Type box.
If you are only forwarding a single port number then enter that number into both the Start Port and the Finish Port boxes. If you are forwarding a range of ports separated by a hyphen then enter the lowest number of that range into the Start Port box and the highest number of that range into the Finish Port box.
Near the left of the page click the Rules link.
Click the Outbound or Inbound Services Add button.
In the Service dropdown box pick the service you created.
Use the Action dropdown box to select ALLOW always.
You need to enter the IP address that you are forwarding ports to in the Send to LAN Server box. It's possible for this to be either the IP address of your computer or any other IP address on your network that you want ports forwarded to.
In the WAN Users dropdown box choose Any.
Use the Log dropdown box to pick Never.
When you are finished, click the Apply button.
Congratulations you are finished.
Are Your Ports Open
This is a good question. How do you know if the ports opened as they should? We recommend using our Open Port Checker. It is part of the free trial version of our Network Utilities. This particular open port checker is guaranteed to work because it uses a local application to see if the ports are actually listening or not.
Other Info
If you enjoyed this guide, we have more you may also like:
- What network security should you use? WEP or WPA?
- A guide to Understanding DHCP.
- Is this a Router or Modem?
- Learn more about WiFi Channels.
